Basic

Coal
Information

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Academy
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 Why do we need a coal mill Installation ?

Coal is
a fuel (like oil, natural gas)
often the cheapest fuel
Coarse coal arrives at plant (due to
explosion risk & handling )

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 From Peat
to Coal

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 Geological Time

Increase fixed Carbon

Increasing Heating Value
Decreasing Moisture
Decreasing Volatile Matter

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 Coal Types
Different coal types and composition
When dealing with coal it must be appreciated that there is no such thing as
coal there are coals, each with their own unique characteristics.
The characteristics for different coals vary not only for different types of coal
but also within the same coal type.
The coal is a metamorphosed sedimentary rock created from the vegetation
in huge swamps during millions of years.
The first stage in the coal formation process is the creation of peat, which
also today can be found in swamps and consists of partly decomposed
vegetation.
During time layers of soil have covered the peat subjecting this to increasing
pressure and temperature, giving rise to the coalification process.
The youngest coal used in the cement industry is lignite.
This is often soft and easy to grind.
The characteristics of this coal type is a high volatile content and a high ash
content, the calorific value of these coal types are usually <5000 kcal/kg cl.

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 Coal Types

Natural Coal types

Bituminous
Peat Lignite Coal Anthracite

First stage in coal Young , Soft Hard

formation Brownish Forms from Bituminous
coal & great pressure

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 Coal Types

Petcoke
Industrial, many
subtypes

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 Drying of Coal

(Inherent moisture)

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 Determination of de-watering curve for coal

1. Crush a representative raw coal sample to -5 mm

2. Weigh out 500 grams of the sample and spread it on an open tray to a
thickness of approx. 1 cm.
3. Dry the sample for 24 hours at 30oC.
4. Coal weight after drying:W30 g
5. Now dry the sample for 5 hours at 50oC.
6. Weight after drying:W50 g.
7. Dry the sample further for 5 hours at 65oC.
8. Weight after drying:W65 g
9. Repeat the drying procedure 5 hours at 85oC.
10. Weight after drying:W85 g
11. Finally dry the sample for 3 hours at 105oC.
12. This will expel all water.

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 Determination of de-watering curve for coal

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 Coal de-watering
Curve

W W
T 105C 100 %

W
T

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 Estimation of Mill
Outlet Temp.

T T > 20C
Mill Outlet Dew point

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 Coal de-watering
Curve

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 Recommended Moisture of
Coal Dust

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 Coal Types
Hygroscopic Volatile
Ash
Age Moisture Content Coal type
%
% %
Old 2> 5-3 8> Anthracite
62 53 15 - 5 Semianthracite
62 85 20 5 Quarter rich coal
62 15 8 30 20 Bituminous coal
62 20 10 40 30 Rich coal
Young 15 - 10 30 15 50 40 Lignite
Industrial 1> 2> 15 > Pet Coke

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 Guideline for coal Meal Fineness

35

30
% Residue on 90

25

20

15

10

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
% Volatile

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 Grindability of coal
Hardgrove Grindability Index )HGI(
The Hardgrove Grindability Index is determined by a laboratory grinding
test in a special bearing Mill
The Hardgrove Grindability Index is based on the weight of the material
passing a 75 micron sieve after grinding in the bearing mill

Bearing mill

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 Hardgrove
Grindability Index
In the above figure is shown the relation between HGI and mill specific
power consumption for grinding to different sieve residues on 90 m in a
ball mill.
Coal Mill wear To be able to calculate the wear of the different parts in the
grinding installation, it is necessary to know the abrasiveness of the coal.
The abrasion index is investigated in the laboratory according to method BS
1016, part 19 (British Standard) and is measured in mg/kg.
In FLS we define normal abrasive coals to have a AI index not higher than
20 mg/kg.
The abrasion can also be expressed as a YGP index (Yancey, Geer and
Price).
The relation between YGP index and AI index is as follows: YGP = 4 x AI

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 Hardgrove Grindability Index Specific power consumption for mill
VS. HGI & seive residue on 90 m for the ATOX Mill

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 Hardgrove Grindability Index Specific power consumption for mill
VS. HGI & seive residue on 90 m for TIRAX mill + RTKM separator

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 The Tirax mill
The Tirax mill shown in the above figure is a ball mill designed for drying and
grinding. The material first passes through a drying compartment with lifters.
In coal mills of older designs, the grinding was carried out in two grinding
compartments.
However, grinding in larger mills with high capacity and drying by means of
inert gas of low temperature implies that the velocity of the air through the
mill will usually be high.
In order to reduce the differential pressure over the mill, the mills of today
are arranged with only one grinding compartment and classifying lining.

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Ball Mill System TIRAX Coal Mill

Grinding
compartment
AX coal mill
Drying
compartment

Drying compartment
as part of the mill shell One
compartment grinding

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 ATOX
Coal mill

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